February 18, 2014

Jimmy Fallon: Can he distract Millennials from whatever?

Television, thanks to the antihero like Walter White, has had an amazing comeback. All generations find those kinds of dark characters compelling. But the question is: Can the traditional formula of "The Tonight Show" maintain enough of an audience so advertisers will keep it on the air?

The new host Jimmy Fallon was all sweetness and light. Boyish, even. He choked up a bit when alluding to the history of the show in his life. We Baby Boomers who have mellowed from our Counterculture days enjoyed the predictability of good clean entertainment. After all, we were shocked by the profanity of Gawker and the brittleness of its supposed investigative journalism.

Millennials, the demographic gold mine advertisers want, could tune out permanently. They have many other forms of entertainment, including making their own with online videos and streaming others' art via Netflix. If Fallon can't embed himself in their daily patterns, five times a week, he could be the last host of "Tonight."